Windows
by CUIntheair
Summary: Eyes are the windows to the soul, but most people don't take the time to notice. A little one-shot of Raven handing out advice to an uncooperative Monty. One-sided Jonty feelings and general angst. I maybe might do a part two where Monty finally confronts Jasper... possibly. Rated for Raven's sailor mouth.
1. Chapter 1

_**Windows**_

"Have you ever heard that old crap about eyes being windows to the soul or whatever?" Raven asked without looking up from the wires she was soldering by the dismantled communications panel.

"What?" Monty barely glanced away from the the half-formed walkie talkie he was working on. It had been a quiet hour in the dropship, mostly because he was still in a funk about the loss of any chance at talking to the Ark.

"You know, eyes are windows to the soul. Finn says it's an old saying from before the planet roasted," She set down her work and turned in her seat to face Monty, "Which is crap when you think about it because you can't see much through a window, you know? Just a tiny bit of whatever's on the other side, so it's a bad metaphor," She furrowed her eyebrows in that judgmental way of hers.

"Okay," Monty nodded in confusion, unsure of what provoked the conversation.

"My point is that if you have half a brain you can tell a lot more about someone from their eyes than from the bullshit that comes out their mouths," She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, "And apparently I'm the only one with half a brain in this whole damn camp,"

"Again... okay," Monty was starting to feel uncomfortable, and he genuinely didn't know what to say. Raven had never been one to talk for the sake of talking, at least to his knowledge, but he had no idea where she was going with this.

"You don't say much, Monty, which in my book is a compliment, but you're a wreck," She turned back around in her seat and went back to work, "It's obvious, or at least it should be. Not that the kids here are a brain trust,"

"Can you sift past insulting everyone and say whatever it is you're driving at?" Monty crossed his arms in front of him, feeling flustered and more than a little peeved. She'd made it very clear that his hope for survivors on the Ark was useless, and he was already tired of hearing it.

Raven sighed, but didn't turn back to look at him, "You don't know how to give up, and it's not healthy. Believe me,"

"If this is about the Ark you've already made your opinion known. I'm working on the walkies, so just... I don't know. I'm helping you. What more do you want?" He picked up the hunk of plastic and wires and tried to regain focus.

"It's not just the Ark. You don't play things as close to the chest as you think. It's in your eyes, man," She made a small huffing sound as she ripped more wires from the machinery that had kept them in touch with home, "You're lucky Jasper's blind,"

Monty's breath caught in his throat, but he didn't say anything. She stayed quiet for a moment before taking his silence as an answer.

"Yep. Thought so," She nodded, but still didn't look at him, "You see it too. It's kinda sick how you don't say anything about it but it's all right there," She picked up the soldering iron and started attaching the usable wires to a tiny speaker, "In the eyes,"

It was Monty's turn to huff, "I have no idea what you're talking about,"

"Yeah, you do," A small, sad smile played across her lips but Monty didn't see it. They were both resolutely facing opposite directions, "Jasper doesn't look at you the way you look at him, and you know it. But you don't try to make him see, and that's where it gets sick. It's not good for you to feel like that and hold it in,"

"I still don't know what you're talking about," His voice stayed steady, disinterested even, but his mouth slid into a frown that Raven didn't see.

"Look," She set down the jumble of parts and twisted to try to look at him, but he didn't move, "I suck at emotion stuff, okay? But I know what it's like to be in love with your best friend,"

"But Finn loved you back," The words came out too loud and too fast for him to stop them.

"I knew it," She shook her head, "See? Doesn't it feel better to say it out loud?" Monty didn't reply, but that only spurred her on, "You do know that we are about to be full-on at war with the Grounders, right? And the guy that you are crazy about is one of Bellamy's favorite gunners, so he'll be right out in the middle of it. _And _Jasper's a magnet for trouble. I heard about the whole spear thing. So if you don't tell him now, you might miss your last chance,"

Monty closed his eyes, and had to force his throat to make sound, "I don't know what I'd do without him. He doesn't see me that way, and... I'm okay with it the way it is,"

"I said that exact thing once," Raven lifted her hand to pat his shoulder, but hesitated. Comforting people was not one of her strengths.

"You at least knew you stood a chance," He finally turned to look at her, "He'd freak if I told him, he wouldn't know how to handle it and he's my best friend. I already know what the answer would be so... it wouldn't be fair to put him into that situation,"

"It's not fair to you to have to hide all this. It might be hard but in the long-run it'll hurt a lot less," She sighed, then switched into a sly smile, "Besides, how do you know he'll freak? He seems like he's up for anything,"

"It's..." Monty smiled for half a second before shaking his head, "It's a little more complicated than you and Finn,"

"Actually, I don't think this is in the same league of complicated that me and Finn have reached," She shook her head, "But I'll tell you something; at least now I know it didn't work out. At least now I'm not pining over the possibility of it maybe happening one day. Finn turned out to be a sucky boyfriend, but if I'd never made a move I'd never have known for sure," She nodded resolutely, "You deserve to know. It'll help you move on or, hey, maybe he'll be into the idea. I mean, he halfway loves you already so it could be that he just hasn't realized it yet. Either way is better than what you've been doing," The judgmental eyebrows returned.

"Got any suggestions on how to tell him?" Monty spoke in a defeated whisper.

"You could just plant one on him," She grinned, "Right on that over-sized mouth,"

"Subtle," Monty couldn't help but laugh.

"It's what I did with Finn," She shrugged, "Though on second thought maybe you shouldn't take notes from _that _relationship,"

Monty nodded, deep in thought, "You're right... just not yet," Another nod, as if he were convincing himself as well as her, "He is gonna be in the fight with the Grounders, and he's more likely to survive if he's focused. This'll throw him off too much. If we survive I'll tell him," He turned away again, knowing the disappointment that would be on Raven's face.

"And after the fight with the Grounders? What'll be your next excuse?"

Monty opened his mouth angrily only to shut it again. He couldn't think of an argument so he sighed, "I've got some wires in my tent. I'm gonna go get them," He shot to his feet and hurried to the exit.

Raven grumbled to herself, "Like there aren't enough in here already?" But he was gone. She was starting to think all boys were idiots.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Words Fall Short_**

_Author's Note: Okay, so I changed my mind and this is gonna be a three-shot. I promise actual confrontation between the two boys in part three, but I'm trying my best to keep everyone in character and I felt like if Monty had held it in this long it'd take serious prodding to bite the bullet and speak up._

Monty quickly learned that Raven wasn't the type to let things go. It took several hours to wrangle all of the walkies into working order, and she'd pressed the issue. He'd just stopped talking. She loaded all of but one of the walkies into a bag and gave Monty a hard look.

"I'm going out. We've got to check how far the connection can handle. You take this one," She handed him the final walkie, "And stay here. I'll check in every few feet,"

Monty nodded, happy that the previous conversation was finally dropped, and Raven left.

"Testing, testing. Monty, you read?" Raven's voice crackled from the jerry-rigged contraption in Monty's hand.

"Gotcha. Bellamy will be thrilled," He rolled his eyes.

"Roger," He could hear the laugh in her voice, "Okay, I'm going to keep heading further and trying different ones to make sure they all work,"

"Sounds like a plan," Monty nodded, only to realize that he was alone in the dropship.

"Here's the second. Is it coming in clear?"

"Yeah," Monty sighed, already bored. Radio silence for nearly a solid minute.

"Third. Tell me something," Raven's voice was a little garbled by the sound of movement. She must have been passing through the fence.

"What?"

"Fourth," The interference was gone. She'd likely made it into the woods, "Why him?"

"Raven, I don't-"

"Just tell me. Really, of all people... why him?"

Monty shook his head, "I don't know, Raven. And I don't want to talk about it,"

"Fifth. I mean, he's nice in his own weird way and he's not a _complete_ shuttle crash as far as looks go. But is he worth it?"

"Raven," Monty tried to make his dissapproval clear, "This isn't-"

"It's just you and me right now, Monty. I already know so what's the harm in saying?" She didn't sugarcoat her tone. She wanted answers, and she wasn't going to let it go.

"Yeah. He's worth it," Monty sighed.

"Good. Now use your words and tell me why. Sixth, by the way. I'm going back to one to make sure they all reach this far,"

"Words..." He sighed. He'd never put it into words. He didn't know if he had enough words, "He's... just _right, _I guess. Things are better when he's around,"

"Back to one," Raven replied, "And things are usually better with a friend around. That's not enough. You're not off the hook yet," She was a firm believer in tough love. It took serious prodding from a senior zero G mech to get her to admit her crush on Finn. Just because that relationship crashed and burned didn't mean that she wasn't better for getting it out of her system.

"Okay..." He thought hard. It had gone on for so long without words, and he wasn't sure he could distill the feelings into something simple enough to vocalize. Jasper was a part of him that had always been there. Jasper had gotten him into trouble time and again, but those were his best memories. Raven was right, it hurt to feel the way he did and not take any action but it was a good hurt because it kept Jasper by his side. Like the burn of homemade moonshine or too big a hit of illegal herbs. The pain came with joy.

There was something Raven was wrong about, though. It wasn't sick. Monty had seen sick relationships. He'd seen two people hate each other and stay together. He'd seen when one person's life revolved around the other's like the Ark orbiting Earth. Him and Jasper had never been like that. They revolved around each other equally. They leaned on each other for support, and when one was down the other would lift them up. They understood each other, knew every fault and still cared. They gave each other balance. When Jasper took things too far, Monty would reel him back in. When Monty retreated too much into himself, Jasper would pull him out. Jasper brought fun and adventure and laughter to Monty's life. They'd had their arguments and they'd had moments where they couldn't stand each other, but nothing had been too big or too dark to overcome. He knew he was lucky to have a friend like Jasper, he'd have been lucky if he'd had a friend half as good. He hated that it didn't always feel like enough, and there were times when it almost killed him.

Moments when Jasper looked at him and smiled so big, like Monty was everything good in the world. Moments when the person he knew better than anyone else still continually surprised him. Jasper had always had an unbridled enthusiasm like every day was a wonder and an excellent joke at the same time and it made Monty think life could still be amazing even on the Ark. A spear to the chest had brought on a new side to Jasper, a fearfulness and an angry brokenness, but it hadn't taken his smile.

Monty loved Jasper for everything he was and everything he wasn't. He loved him for the way he threw all of himself into things without reservation, like when he'd given his heart completely to Octavia almost immediately. The way he rose to every occasion and still didn't think much of himself. Even the way he buckled under stress. It should have ended there. He should have loved Jasper like a brother, the way he so often said he did, but he couldn't change it.

Jasper's smile, the way his eyes lit up, made Monty's head swim. When Jasper was upset, it was all he could do to not hug the sadness away. Each imperfection seemed so well suited, and every feature seemed to shine with Jasper's bright personality. Sometimes friendship just wasn't enough.

"Hello? Monty? You still alive? Back to second if you were wondering," Raven sounded frustrated.

"Yeah, still here,"

"You gonna use your big boy words now? Third,"

"He's there when I need him. Everything I try to be: more outgoing, more trusting, more optimistic, that's how he is without trying. He makes everyone smile everywhere he goes and asks for nothing in return and it's like he doesn't realize how awesome he is. I never notice anyone else because no one else compares. And just on a side-note, he's the exact opposite of a shuttle crash looks-wise. That's why. You happy now?"

"Ecstatic. Now you just need to tell him that. Fourth," She sounded pleased with herself and it made Monty even more frustrated.

"Why are you pushing this so hard?"

"Because you said you didn't know how to tell him. Now you have a place to start. I prefer solving problems instead of sitting on them. Fifth. I'm heading back to camp. Be there in a few minutes,"

Monty set down his walkie and shook his head. He was torn between smiling and grimacing. Raven had made her point and she was just trying to help, but he wasn't sure what the use was. If he came clean Jasper might never talk to him again and just the idea of that was too painful to think about.

The way he felt, though, would tear him up for the rest of his life if he kept holding it in. Maybe he did have to take the chance. If he'd learned anything on Earth, it was that there was no way of knowing what was coming next.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Bravery and Trust**_

Mount Weather was cold. Not its temperature, there seemed to be some sort of heating system, but it still managed to leave Monty feeling cold. After so long in the woods, surrounded by sunshine and firelight, the artificial buzz of flourescents made everything seem frigid and sterile. The food was good, the people seemed friendly, and all the paintings were nice enough but there was a pervasive air of coldness everywhere.

Surrounded by the pale and faintly blue people of Mount Weather Monty couldn't help but notice how healthy the survivors of the hundred looked. Especially Jasper. He looked so very alive and calm and happy, it was almost like he'd gone back to who he was before Earth. Before spears to the chest. Before he'd let himself become a killer. This was no longer soldier Jasper, but something about that fact left a bad taste in Monty's mouth.

They'd all come so far, learned and changed and grown. Jasper'd been given the short end of the stick more often than not, but that was no reason for him to try to pretend that the past hadn't happened. For better or worse Bellamy and Clarke had shown trust in Jasper, and the teen had lived up to it. That gave him a level of authority in people's minds and with Bellamy and Finn gone and Clarke swept off to the psych ward the group was running out of leaders. Miller could have been one. He was respected enough, but he operated by following orders instead of giving them. That left Jasper. Monty knew he himself wasn't a leader. Sure, people thought him smart. He was, but being smart and being listened to were two very different things and he'd need Jasper's help to get people to wake up and see all was not well.

Then there was Maya. That girl gave Monty a chill up his spine more than anything else in Mount Weather. Her smile was overly sweet and the way she carried herself was too prim. After spending all Autumn dealing with savage deaths and harsh life her perfectly pressed dresses and composed expressions seemed horribly fake and contrived. There was something about living in the woods, where everyone was dirty and tired and hungry and being polite took a backseat to keeping each other alive, that had felt genuine and made everyone in Mount Weather seem false.

And Jasper couldn't take his eyes off her. Monty wanted to roll his eyes. Even the thought was nauseating. At least he understood Jasper's obsession with Octavia. She had represented adventure and fun and freedom, all those things that Jasper had wanted on the Ark. Though, under close scrutiny, maybe Maya represented Jasper's current position. He was tired of fighting and running and dodging death. He wanted peace and comfort and safety, and he saw that in Maya. Monty just wished that Jasper would see the untrustworthiness in her eyes. Clarke had seen it, and though it took Monty a little longer he was starting to as well.

He sighed to himself and looked around the quiet dining room. It seemed like there were always people eating. Different jobs at Mount Weather had different hours so at any given moment someone was on break and it made sense but it was one more thing that felt foreign to Monty. He'd grown up with very strict rationing, and then food had been scarce at camp. It was an extravagance to have so much, and as wonderful as the food was it seemed wasteful and wrong on a deep level. Maybe Monty was just getting paranoid since Clarke's absence but he felt like everything had turned sinister. He couldn't take the place anymore and swept out of the room with no idea of where he was heading.

Leaving the complex hadn't even been mentioned, not even considered as a possibility, by anyone but Clarke. At first Monty had just been happy to be in such a safe place but now he was questioning it. The members of the hundred could survive outside, so why weren't they at least asked if they wanted to? Why had it all been decided for them that they'd never set foot above ground again? Why was the one person who'd questioned it all being sequestered from the group?

The questions seemed too big for him, and no one else seemed willing to even entertain the thought. They'd listen if Bellamy were here. It'd take some prodding but he'd give a big speech and everyone would fall in line. Or Finn could have been here and said just the right calm words at just the right moment to help plant doubt into everyone and spark the revolt to leave. Had Clarke not been rushed off to psych they'd all have listened to her after the initial high of excitement from surviving the Grounders had dissipated. No one would listen to Monty, at least not the way he'd need them to. They'd pay attention because they knew he was smart, but they wouldn't follow his lead if he tried to start anything.

He'd need Jasper. But Jasper was focused completely on Maya, and Monty couldn't bear looking at that mess. It made his stomach hurt.

So that left him wandering the halls of Mount Weather with his head down, completely oblivious to where his feet were taking him as he focused with all of his might on the problem at hand. He could try to talk Jasper into being on his side, but it seemed like everywhere Jasper was, Maya was. He couldn't have that discussion with Maya around. He needed Clarke. He needed a better way. He just needed help.

Raven would know what to do. If she were here she'd use her no-nonsense logic and a healthy helping of weirdly uplifting insults to set him on target. She'd see through the welcome wagon to what was really going on under the mountain. Whatever that was. It had to be bad, though. He should have listened to Clarke. He turned a corner without looking.

"Whoa!" A panicked voice made Monty look up. Jasper was standing right in front of him, laughing as he overcame being startled, "Monty!" Jasper raised his eyebrows in amused confusion, "What are you doing here?" His smile was too big to mean anything but Maya. Whether he had just spent time with her or was on his way to meet her, Maya was involved. At least she wasn't there right then.

"Just, uh, just walking around," Monty smiled apologetically. Jasper had been jumpy for awhile now, and Monty always felt bad when he caused that look of momentary panic.

"Oh," Jasper tilted his head knowingly.

"What's 'oh'?" Monty straightened his back a little indignantly.

"Still thinking about Clarke? Has anyone talked to her yet?" Jasper's smile faded and his eyes went serious.

"How does me going on a walk link to Clarke?"

"That's what you do, man. When you're thinking really hard about something you start wandering. You remember that one time you walked so long you got lost on Tesla station with no idea how you got there?" He shook his head as if Monty should already know this information, "And right now you're most worried about Clarke... so has anyone been able to see her yet?" The smile was now completely gone and replaced with worry. This was the Jasper that Monty needed, the one that would do anything for his friends, not the one that followed Maya like a leashed dog. This was Monty's chance.

"Able to see her? Yeah. It's not like we've got jobs here or something else to do, there's no reason we're not _able _to see her. We haven't been _allowed _to see her. If she's having some sort of breakdown wouldn't you or me be able to talk her down better than strangers? Something's wrong," Monty spoke very softly, trying to sound as reasonable as possible so he didn't come across as paranoid.

"What do you think it is?" Jasper looked hesitant, but he was still listening and that was further than Clarke had gotten with him.

"Remember what got her locked up on the Ark?"

"She wanted to go public that the oxygen was running out," Jasper responded immediately.

"They didn't just lock her up, they put her in solitary," Monty nodded, speaking in the barest whisper. Jasper had to lean in to hear.

"You think that's what they're doing?" Monty wanted to smack Jasper for the disbelief on his face, but they were only half a foot apart and Monty didn't trust his hands.

"Look, man, outside isn't safe for them but they still send out soldiers, right?"

"Yeah, what does that have-"

"They are going in and out, which means that they have a way of coming and going without filling the whole place with radiation. Right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"But they tell us it's impossible for _us_ to leave. Because it'd kill _them_," Monty raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips to keep from shouting at the obviousness of the deception.

"Oh," Jasper's eyebrows furrowed, finally seeing a chink in Mount Weather's armor. Monty jumped on the chance.

"So we _should _be able to leave. There's no concrete reason why we shouldn't. We're just not allowed to. And don't say they're better equipped to look for our friends because you know that if Bellamy saw those guys in suits coming he wouldn't think twice about running. If he saw us coming it'd be a different story. So why won't they let us go? And _Clarke_ of all people needs to be in the psych ward? Murphy, yeah. Not Clarke. She found something they didn't want her to find,"

Jasper shut his eyes, looking defiant and unhappy. He sighed, "But we're safe here. What could possibly be wrong with that?"

"We're safe," Monty nodded, "but we're prisoners... and has anyone talked to you about job training? Integrating into society? Because I haven't heard a word of it. So if we're not going to be productive here... what's their plan?" He took a deep breath, "I don't think we'll be safe for long. I think Clarke saw through it all and we wouldn't listen. She investigated without backup because of us and now... there's no telling when we'll see her again,"

Jasper believed him, Monty could see it in his eyes, but he was still grasping at straws, "What about Maya? She said she saw Clarke. She said it was a breakdown," Monty could see Jasper's struggle between seeing the truth and still believing in Maya.

"Jasper," Monty stared into those sad brown eyes and wanted to snap whatever hold that girl had on his best friend. He wanted to tell Jasper everything and he wanted above all for Jasper to be okay with it. But he couldn't. The situation was too precarious already. Raven's voice floated through his memory. _What'll be your next excuse?_

Jasper just sighed, "I know how tough Clarke is, but why would Maya lie?" Monty was losing Jasper, and he knew it.

"Who do you trust more? Clarke and me or Maya?" It was dirty pool, but times were desperate.

"Monty," Jasper's eyes flicked to the floor and he looked cornered and hurt, "You know the answer. I just..."

Monty needed to do something drastic. A horrible idea popped into his head, and he had no other options. He sighed and prepared for the worst moment of his life, "Jasper... I've never tried to convince you of something ridiculous. I've never asked you to change how you feel. I've never intentionally put you in danger. You know that, right? You know that I have always put you first?"

"Yeah, Monty I know, but you can't be sure-"

"No, you don't get it. If I thought we had time to wait, if I didn't think that all of us -particularly Clarke- were in danger, then I wouldn't try to force your hand... but I am sure, completely certain, that this place is wrong,"

"You have proof?" The hope in Jasper's eyes flickered out. He'd wanted Mount Weather to be everything it had claimed.

"Just that I wouldn't bring this up if I didn't absolutely believe it. I know how you feel about Maya and this whole place and I wouldn't take that away from you if I thought I had a choice about it," Monty took a deep breath, "There's something I've never told you, Jasper, because I thought it would upset you," He watched the confusion on Jasper's face, and his own eyes fell resolutely to the floor, "It's not even that important now, but I've kept this secret because I thought you'd be happier not knowing, and I thought you'd hate me or feel uncomfortable around me. Because I would never say or do something if I thought it'd make you hate me. I'd never try to break you up with a girl, or put you through crap if it wasn't life and death," He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't quite get the words out.

"Monty, you don't have any secrets. Not from me," Jasper looked like the concept was absurd.

"Just the one," Monty hated that it was happening this way, but it was too late now, "I'm only telling you now to prove how sure I am about this place. If I could I'd keep my mouth shut and let you just be happy here, but I know we're all in danger,"

"Okay?" Jasper looked so lost at the thought of Monty keeping a secret.

"I've been in love with you for years, Jasper. It's stupid and pointless and I don't expect anything, but it's the truth. I wouldn't drag you into crap if I knew another way, and _that's_ my proof. I know they took Clarke, and we're all trapped here and something terrible is happening and I need your help. I hope you can believe me because Clarke needs us. The rest of our people need us. If you can't take all this at face value then I don't know how else to get you to trust me, and Clarke might not have much time and-"

"Monty, slow down," There was no outrage in Jasper's deep voice, and that alone made Monty's head snap up fast enough for whiplash. He'd been staring at his own feet the entire time, certain that the reaction would be angry. Instead he sees worry.

"You thought you had to convince me to trust you? Monty, man, I'm sorry... I'm a terrible friend,"

Monty couldn't get his throat to respond enough to reply so he just shook his head.

"Yeah I am," Jasper looked guilty, "I never even thought about you liking anyone. Never asked you about it," He looked mildly disgusted with himself, "I'm a terrible friend,"

"So do you believe me that we're in danger?"

"It really took you thinking we're all about to die to tell me that?" His expression was difficult to read.

"You've always been my best friend and that's enough. I didn't want you to hate me. So believe me if I wasn't a hundred percent certain about all this," He swept his arms around the hall, "I would _not _have told you,"

"Why would I hate you? I couldn't hate you, man," Jasper ran a hand nervously through his hair.

"That's fantastic news, but do you believe me?" Monty would be thrilled later. Right now he needed Jasper to launch a half-formed plan to find Clarke.

"Of course I do. I'm sorry... you shouldn't have had to convince me. I shouldn't have doubted Clarke either but... I'm sorry, Monty. I trust you. You're always there for me and... I just keep screwing things up,"

"Hey, man, it's cool. You really believe me that something's wrong here? That they took Clarke?" Priorities trumped emotions for the moment.

Jasper pursed his lips and looked miserable, "... Yeah. I didn't want to, but I believe you. She's the last person that should end up in the psych ward," He nodded slowly, still clearly processing the information, "Do you have any ideas?"

"One or two," Monty nodded, "I need you to convince everyone to start a riot. If we make it look like kids being stupid, fighting over something or just getting stir crazy, then it'll make a distraction that will give us time to search through medical for Clarke,"

"But no one's allowed in medical but patients," Jasper was nodding along, completely on-board, "How will we get in?"

"We can say we're looking for Maya. Enough people have seen the two of you together that they won't question it," Monty was feeling like the plan was as close to working as it was going to get. They might have a chance. They were still whispering in the middle of the empty hallway, still standing unusually close together. They'd look suspicious if anyone came by. Monty started to step back, they'd have to talk to the others and convince them to riot. That shouldn't be too hard. A bunch of juvenile criminals that hadn't had anything to do in days? They'd be up for anything exciting.

"Monty, wait," Jasper grabbed Monty's shoulder before he could turn away, "What you said before..."

"Please forget it. Like I said, I don't expect anything,"

"Lately people keep telling me I'm brave and that might be true, I don't know, but you telling me that? _That_ was brave. I promise to trust you from the jump from now on,"

"Thanks," Monty managed a smile. Maybe the truth wasn't ugly enough to destroy their friendship, "Sorry I didn't tell you a long time ago,"

"I don't blame you, man... I can be pretty immature," Jasper gave a sly smile.

"You really can. Now, you wanna start a riot?" Monty felt happier than he had in a long time. He'd spoken up, and Jasper was still by his side. It might not be perfect, but Raven was right. It was healthier this way.

"It would be an honor, good sir," Jasper tipped an imaginary hat. Then an idea seemed to jump into his head because his eyebrows shot up and disappeared into his shaggy hair, "But first..."

It was fast and very unexpected. Jasper's face was right there, his lips on Monty's. It was over nearly the moment it started, and Monty had no idea how or why it had happened. He didn't even have time to react before it ended. He stared up confusedly at Jasper, too surprised to smile.

"I won't make any promises and I don't know if I could ever think of you like that, but I know that bravery gets rewarded," Jasper gave a resolute nod and clapped his hand on Monty's shoulder the same way he'd done a thousand times before, "Now let's start that riot," He smiled that familiar way, like Monty was everything good in the world.

This time it was Monty that reacted without thinking, and he didn't pull away like Jasper had. One hand flew up and wrapped itself into that messy hair. He felt Jasper tense, and he was terrified that he'd pushed his luck too far, but at the same time he was kissing Jasper and that fact was too wonderful to be true. Then he felt Jasper relax against him and he had to make sure he wasn't imagining it all. He finally pulled away, feeling suddenly nervous. Yes, he was awake. No, this was not a coma dream or something. Jasper looked startled and confused and a little bit like he'd been walloped in the head with a mallet, but he hadn't pulled away.

"When I said I didn't know if I could think about you that way," Jasper cleared his throat, still looking surprised, "It wasn't some sort of challenge," He let out a shaky, nervous laugh.

"Sorry, I just... sorry," Monty shrugged, trying to remain calm.

"It's, um, something to think about," Jasper furrowed his eyebrows seriously, "Right, we need to get that riot going and save Clarke," He nodded.

The two of them headed back through the labyrinth of hallways towards the large room housing the rest of the forty-eight space kids, hell-bent on enacting their plan and rescuing their leader.


End file.
